‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ Almost Included a Hailee Steinfeld Reference

Editor’s Note: The article below contains spoilers for Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.Transformers: Rise of the Beasts roared into theaters this weekend taking the top spot at the box office. The seventh live-action film in the Transformers franchise was full of epic battles, fun characters, and some major cameos and references to other Hasbro properties. However, the one character that didn’t cameo in the latest film was Hailee Steinfeld who played Bumblebee’s companion Charlie in the fan-favorite Autobot’s self-titled spin-off. However, now Rise of the Beasts‘ director Steven Caple Jr. has revealed that Steinfeld almost did appear in the film.

This topic of conversation came up in Caple Jr.’s recent interview with The Hollywood reporter where the director was talking about all things robots in disguise. He was asked, given Bumblebee’s near-death experience in the film, if Steinfeld was ever in the cards to make an appearance. “She was, but not necessarily for Bumblebee’s comeback,” Caple Jr. said and continued, “I think we still have this line in the movie, maybe we don’t, but there’s a moment where Bumblebee says to Prime, ‘They are my friends.’ And he’s talking about Hailee’s character.” The Creed II director would elaborate even further saying, “Exactly. So they had that conversation, but we went even further with it where Bumblebee actually took out the Polaroid photo of him and Hailee’s character in Bumblebee. She took a selfie of the two of them together, with a Polaroid [camera], and so we actually shot that version.” Caple Jr. would finish stating:

“We probably have it in the deleted scenes; I’m sure we do. Bumblebee showed the photo [to Prime], and he was further pushing how tight he was with a human. But yeah, I like Hailee Steinfeld. She’s a great actress. I have not met her, but the way our movie ends, there’s always possibilities. Maybe she’s too busy in the Marvel world, but she’s a wonderful actress and I would definitely love to collaborate with her.”

Hailee Steinfeld’s Currently Leading the Charge Across the Multiverse

Like Caple Jr. was referring to, since Bumblebee’s release in 2018, Steinfeld’s career has skyrocketed with her joining the Marvel universe. She has since played Kate Bishop in Hawkeye, but the actress also voices Gwen Stacy aka Spider-Gwen in Sony’s critically acclaimed Spider-Verse franchise. The second part of that animated trilogy, Across the Spider-Verse, released in early June and Transformers just beat it for the number one spot at the box office. However, while Rise of Beasts was a heck of a fun time and bolstered some amazing action set pieces, Steinfeld can still say she was in the best Transformers movie. Bumblebee was this endlessly charming coming-of-age story that captured the unique 80s magic that was found in the original cartoon series. This was in no small part to Steinfeld whose energetic nature and spirit was perfect for this universe that’s more than meets the eye. Despite her absence in Rise of the Beasts, that entertaining vibe is something that thankfully carries over to the latest battle.

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Rise of the Beasts is Only the Beginning

While it would have been amazing to see Steinfeld make a cameo in Rise of the Beasts, Bumblebee’s sweet reference to her character was enough to warm any Transformers fan’s heart. Also, like Caple Jr. said, there’s a chance we could see the actress pop up again in a future movie, especially given the new film’s hot start. While fans wait to see if Steinfeld will re-enter the war between the Autobots and Decepticons, you can roll out to see Transformers: Rise of the Beasts in theaters now. Bumblebee can also be streamed on Paramount+ and you can view Collider’s recent interview with Steinfeld down below.